There's no right way to eat food; studies show boring food tastes better when eaten differently than usual

Anyone who is on a restricted diet (or a limited budget) has surely experienced food boredom. Maybe you once loved hummus and carrot sticks as an occasional treat, but once it became your go-to midday snack, the thought of another peeled misshapen carrot makes you lose your appetite altogether.

Even our favorite foods can lose their luster after a while. But researchers at Ohio State University say it doesn’t have to be this way — you can enjoy your beloved snacks as much now as you did the first time.

Scroll to continue with content

Ad

The study suggests that the key to unlocking flavor heaven is all in how you eat your food. That is, if you eat your meals differently, you will appreciate them more.

According to OSU assistant professor of marketing Robert Smith, who conducted the study with Ed O’Brien of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, “The more we eat of something, the less we enjoy it. In our research, we find that people don’t experience this same lowering of enjoyment when they consume food in new ways.”

Smith told Today that something as simple as eating popcorn with chopsticks or drinking water out of a champagne glass increases enjoyment.

So, technically, there is no wrong way to eat food — unless you use a fork and knife to eat pizza. What is wrong with you?

For your convenience, here are some fun and funky ways to eat food that I came up with right on the spot:

Eat cereal out of a frisbee.

Take a bag of chips and crumple it all up until it is just crumbs and suck them up with a large milkshake straw.

Do a shot of Nutella like a shot of tequila, but instead of salt, use hot-chocolate powder, and instead of a lime use those chocolates that come in the shape of an orange that are popular around Christmas time.

Avoid utensils entirely. Grab broccoli like you’re a giant dinosaur, and go to town on those greens.

Switch up hummus and carrots by blending carrots, olive oil, and tahini and dipping whole chickpeas in whatever that mess would look like.